A Sakurella Story
by Ani Isilee
Summary: Sakura and her twin sister Konan were very happy. Their mother taught them to play music at a young age. But when their father was caught cheating, Konan and Sakura's mother leaves, their father remarries, and life for Sakura becomes a Cinderella story...


Chapter 1

Full Summary: Sakura and her twin sister Konan were very happy with their parents, Shinji and Keilani Haruno. Their mother, Keilani, who was half Hawaiian, half Japanese, taught them to love music at a very young age. Evidently, both Sakura and Konan inherited Keilani's talent, because both Sakura and Konan are gifted singers/dancers. Konan learned to play the piano, and Sakura, the guitar. Life was great, until the twins were fourteen years old. Keilani divorced Shinji after she caught him in bed with Sayuri, Keilani's sister. Keilani took Konan with her to Hawaii, but Sakura didn't want to leave San Francisco. Keilani promised to return for Sakura one day, and Sakura and Konan stayed in touch. Six months later, Shinji married Sayuri, and she and her daughters, Karin and Ami, moved in. When her father dies a mysterious death, Sayuri suddenly revealed her corrupt, villainous nature, turning Sakura's life into a Cinderella Story…

Chapter 2: Rude Awakening

"SAKURA…!" shrieked a voice by intercom. "Where's my breakfast?!"

"In a minute," replied a sleepy seventeen-year old girl with waist-length, naturally rosy pink hair.

"_NOW_!!!" the shrill voice screeched.

Sakura jumped out of bed. She hated Auntie Stepmother Sayuri's demands, but what could she do? Her father was long dead (he was the owner of a local diner called Haruno's Seafood). Her mother and sister had run off to Hawaii. Sure, they missed her and she missed them, but hey, she was going to graduate in May, move out, visit her mother and Konan, and finally go to the Los Angeles school of Performing Arts. Now all she had to do was stay out of Sayuri's way, avoid Karin and Ami, who were out in the backyard pool during their early morning swimming lesson (which was odd, considering it was a school day), survive her second semester of her senior year, and she'd be home free. And she had to work at her father's diner, which Sayuri had turned into a multi-colored hot spot.

_Oh, well,_ Sakura thought as she showered. _ At least Sayuri treats me like a responsible employee and pays me. And since I've been working a while, I've got a thousand bucks saved on my Rush Card. I hope it'll soon be enough to buy a plane ticket to California. I'll be out of here in no time. _

Sakura threw on a white tank top and a ruffled jean skirt. She put on her white flats, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. Then she went to the kitchen and cooked salmon pancakes in the kitchen for Sayuri.

Sayuri tasted her breakfast, and said, "Adequate. You burned it around the edges though. On the bright side though, at least I'm eating imported Norwegian salmon from Norwegia."

"Don't you mean Norway?" asked Sakura.

"Whatever. Don't get smart with me, Pinky!" snapped Sayuri.

Sakura chose to ignore Sayuri's sniping. She noticed all the sprinklers running and said, "Sayuri, we're in the middle of a drought. We're supposed to conserve water."

"Droughts are for poor people," Sayuri retorted loftily with only a bored glance at the multiple sprinklers. "People who use extra water have extra class."

Sakura heard a car horn honk, and ran to meet her best friend Hinata Hyuuga waiting in her blue Honda. She had on blue jean Capri's and a lavender sleeveless blouse.

"Morning, Hinata," said Sakura cheerfully as she climbed in and fastened her seatbelt. Sayuri generally didn't care how Sakura got to and from school, as long as she was on time.

"Good morning, Sakura," stammered Hinata shyly as she drove off. "Is your stepfamily treating you all right?" she asked. Hinata was always worried for Sakura's safety and well-being. Whenever she visited, she often witnessed Sayuri's cold, insolent treatment of her family, namely Sakura.

"Nothing I can't handle today, Hina-chan; don't worry," replied Sakura. "But I always hated the fact that my dad chose to marry my mom's sister, Aunt Sayuri. That's almost incestuous, like marrying _his_ sister. That doesn't even matter now, since my dad's gone. My mother and sister left us when she found out Dad had been cheating on her for months. Anyway, as long as I do what she says, work at my dad's diner, and stay out of her way, Sayuri promises to use some of the money my dad left us to pay for my college education after I graduate. But she also wants me to go to a community college in town. I want to go to the Los Angeles School of Performing Arts," she finished wistfully.

"Maybe you can earn a scholarship," Hinata suggested. "Then you won't have to worry about relying on Sayuri for money."

"It's a wonderful idea, Hinata," replied Sakura, "but they only accept the best. What if I'm not good enough for them?"

"You are a wonderful singer, Sakura," Hinata assured firmly. "The fact that you and I go to the Konoha School for the Musically Gifted proves it. Plus, remember when we sang that duet of "Stay My Baby" outside school before class when we thought no one was there? When we finished…"

"Lots of people we didn't realize had gathered were applauding," finished Sakura dryly, "and you blushed so hard you fainted. Yeah, I remember. You really have talent as well. You can sing and play keyboard, while I play lead guitar. Now you need to overcome your stage fright. Maybe we can both get scholarships."

"Thanks, Sakura," said Hinata bashfully.

Before either one of them could say anything else, they arrived at school. When they got of the car, they had an unfortunate run-in with Karin and Ami.

"Oh, hi, _ladies_," said Karin icily. "Goodness, me, don't you remember? Only people with talent are allowed at this school."

"Yeah," agreed Ami nastily. "_Stupid people_ obviously don't belong here."

Hinata looked as if she were going to cry, while Sakura seemed ready to knock her cousins/stepsisters' teeth out.

"You're right," said Sakura sassily, "That means you two have to go. You wouldn't know talent if came right up to you and introduced itself. Shouldn't you guys have gotten on the Special Ed bus?"

Come on, Ami," said Karin furiously, "These whores aren't even worth our time. They'll never be as popular as us with an attitude like that."

"Whatever, bitch," Sakura snapped as the two step-evils strutted away, which made Karin and Ami send Sakura the dirtiest scowl they could muster before stalking away.

"I hate them!" Sakura ranted angrily. "They don't deserve to be here, where decent, hardworking students come to learn the arts!"

"Shh," said Hinata soothingly, "Never mind them. You're right; they obviously don't have class at all. I've got to go to Theatre III. I'll see you later, Saku-chan."

"Bye, Hina-chan," said Sakura, now calmer, to her friend as they split up.

Maybe if she quietly tiptoed to class early, she wouldn't run into her deranged cousins again, or rather, her stuck-up stepsisters.

She had no such luck however, because just as she was about to round a corner to Choir class, she heard a bratty, stuck-up sounding voice say, "Hey, did you hear? The entire band Sharingan is transferring here to finish out high school!"

Although Sakura was actually interested in this potential "news," she ducked into the girls' restroom, which happened to be right next to her. She certainly wasn't in the mood to be harassed again this morning. Normally, she paid no attention to gossip, but a famous rock band? Moving here? Now this she had to find out.

While Sakura hid in a stall, Karin and Ami pranced in, applied heavy layers of makeup, and continued their gossip.

"Are you serious?" said Ami. She had shiny, violet hair that fell just above the middle of her back and indigo eyes. She wore a dark blue tube top that exposed some of her midriff (and her cleavage), a very short ruffled white mini-skirt, and white stilettos.

"Yeah," said Karin dreamily. "Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, and Neji Hyuuga will all be coming tomorrow! It was even all over the news! Ooh, I can't wait to get close to him, be his girlfriend, and soon I'll ravage him…" She had recently decided against wearing her hair unkempt, so her fiery red mane was now sleek, straight, and stopped two inches above the small of her back. She wore an extremely revealing teal halter top, a very short black miniskirt, and black boots that stopped just below her knees. Her teal eyes were disguised by strange red contact lenses, since she hated wearing glasses.

"Wow," said Ami. "You have it bad for Sasuke. You're actually willing to watch the _news_ for him. You better hope he likes you the same way when he meets you. As for me, I'm going to make Naruto mine! I totally fell in love with his deep blue eyes…"

They walked out of the bathroom still voicing their plans to claim their "property." Sakura waited a few moments, and then went to Choir Class pondering what she heard. _Wow, _she thought. _Celebrities? Here? At Konoha High School for the Musically Gifted? This is going to be a wild semester…_


End file.
